Valve means



June 20, 1967 D. H. JONES VALVE MEANS Filed Dec. 19, 1963 INVENTOR.@1100 H Jaws A me/v5 Y5.

United States Patent 3,326,235 VALVE MEANS David H. Jones, Port St. Joe,Fla., assignor to Beloit Corporation, Jones Division, Pittsfield, Mass.,and Beloit, Wis.

Filed Dec. 19, 1963, Ser. No. 331,704 1 Claim. (Cl. 137605) Thisinvention relates to a valve means and more particularly to a cappingvalve construction for use primarily in combination with a digester orother similar pressure vessels.

As conducive to a better understanding of the instant invention it is tobe understood that in the paper industry digesters are used to cook woodchips and the like under pressure, -a liquid chemical known as liquorbeing used to react with the chips to break down the fibers for themanufacture of pulp. Such digesters conventionally use a capping meansconsisting of a blind flange with T bolts which must be removed torefill with solid and liquid material after each cook.

A primary object of this invention is the provision of a valve meanswhich will eliminate the need for manpower and tools normally requiredto remove the flange when filling the digester, thereby reducing thecost of the process.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a capping valvemeans having few moving parts with no bonnet having stem packing glandsto leak under pressure, thereby reducing the cost of maintenance.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a valve meanshaving a valve plug which utilizes pressure from within the digester topromote a tight seal thereby reducing the hazard of the valve beingopened accidentally while the digester is up to operating pressure.

A further object of this invention is to provide a valve means incombination with a digester or other pressure vessel having a stationarysolid and liquid material feed means, thereby eliminating the manpowerand time normally required in placing these two objects in position eachtime the digester is to be refilled.

A still further object of the instant invention is the provision of avalve means of the type described having a conical or umbrella likeupper surface which serves as a deflector during the filling of thedigester to evenly distribute the chips and liquor around the sides ofthe vessel.

Other and further objects reside in the combination of elements,arrangement of parts, and features of construction.

Still other objects will in part be obvious and in part be pointed outas the description of the invention proceeds and as shown in theaccompanying drawing where- FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary verticalcross-sectional view showing a portion of a digester or the like havinga valve means in accordance with the instant invention in combinationtherewith, the position of the valve means during feeding of solid andliquid material being shown in dotted lines.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary transverse cross-sectional view takensubstantially on line 2-2 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical crosssectional view throughthe valve plug taken substantially on line 3-3 of FIGURE 1.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views of the drawing.

Referring now to the drawing in general, a portion of a digester orother pressure vessel is designated generally by the reference numeral10, an upstanding wall member 12 being secured to the vessel by weldingor the like at 14 to define an open neck portion, and an interiorreinforcing plate being shown at 16.

The capping valve means of the instant invention includes basically ahead plate 18 having portions defining an angular valve seat 20 disposedtoward the interior of the vessel 10, a valve plug 22 having portionsdefining a hardened angular surface 24 cooperating with the angularvalve seat 20 to seal the neck portion, an O-ring gasket or the like 26preferably being provided in a groove 28 defined in the angular valveseat 20 to increase the sealing relationship. Reciprocating meansdesignated generally by the reference numeral 30 are operatively securedby a coupling 32 to a stem or shaft 34 fixed to the valve plug 22 Theperipheral wall 12 defining the neck portion has an outstanding annularflange 36 with portions defining a plurality of circumferentially spacedslot means 38 each having associated therewith transverse arcuatelycrosssectioned grooves 40 for receiving the cross bar 42 of a T-shapedbolt means 44, the head plate 18 having portions defining a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced additional slot means 46 aligned with the slotmeans 38 and receiving the stem of the bolt means 44, nut means or thelike 48 securely fixing the head plate 18 to the wall member 12. Agasket 49 may be interposed if necessary. The slot means 38 and 46 arepreferably spaced at 22 /2 degrees for most efficient operation.

The valve plug 22 includes portions defining a substantially conicalupper surface 50 extending from the angular surface 24 and functioningas a deflecting means for material fed into the vessel 10 in a manner tobe described in more detail hereinafter. The under surface 52 of thevalve plug 22 also defines a cone as shown particularly in FIGURE 3 andis substantially hollow whereby pressure from the interior of the vessel10 will bear thereagainst to increase the sealing relationship betweenthe angular valve seat 20 and the angular surface 24. A plurality ofperipherally spaced reinforcing members 54 may be secured between theunder surface 52 of the valve plug 22 and a central boss 56 carrying thestem 34 and secured thereto by welding or the like at 58.

A cylindrical gas-off screen member 60 may be secured by a plurality ofelements 62 interiorly of the wall member 12 whereby gas may escape fromthe vessel 10 through pipe connection 61 during the process of cooking,thus allowing gas and non-condensable air to pass and maintain thesolids within vessel 10.

A stationary funnel hopper 64 is preferably secured to the head plate 18by a peripheral angle member 66 and is aligned with the opening in theneck portion of the vessel 10. A stationary solid material feed hopper68 includes an open lower end 70 aligned substantially centrally withthe neck portion and spaced upwardly from the stationary funnel hopper64 to allow for escape of air in the direction of the arrows 72 beingdisplaced by the wood chips or the like 74 being fed from the hopper 68.An offset upper section 76 of the stationary solid material feed hopper'68 is removably secured to a lower section 78 of the same by bolt means80 or the like fixed to complementary flanges 82, 84 to allow forinstallation and removal of the lower section 78 during repair andmaintanance of the apparatus. The stem member 34 passessubstantially'centrally through the open lower end 70 of the solidmaterial feed hopper 68 and portions of the hopper 68 define a guidemeans 86 to receive the stem member 34.

A stationary liquid material feed conduit 88 passes through the wall ofthe lower section 78 of the solid material feed hopper 68 at 90 andincludes a section 92 having an open lower end 94 aligned substantiallycentrally with the neck portion of the vessel 10, the stern member 34passing substantially centrally through the open lower end 94 of theliquid material feed conduit 88, and portions of the section 92 defininga guide member 96 receiving the stem member 34, this latter guide 3member 96 preferably being airtight to preclude introduction of solidmaterial from the hopper 68 into the conduit 8-8. The section 92 ispreferably reniovably secured to the remainder of the liquid materialfeed conduit 88 by bolt means fixed to complementary flanges 100, 162 toaid in maintenance.

The reciprocating means 30 may be of any conventional form, and is shownas a double acting air or bydraulic cylinder 103 having an car 104secured to a fixed beam 106 in the vicinity of the apparatus, and areciprocable piston rod 108 secured to the coupling 32, air lines 110and 112 being operatively connected to the cylinder.

The use and operation of the device of the instant invention will now beapparent. The valve plug 22 is lowered to the dotted position in FIGURE1 by the reciprocating means 30 or merely by the force of gravity, andsolid material 74 such as wood chips or the like is fed from the hopper68 into the stationary funnel hopper 64 to be evenly and uniformlydeflected or diverted through 360 by the conical upper surface 50 of thevalve plug 22, and liquor or other liquid feed material is fed fromconduit 88 to be similarly uniformly distributed by the conical uppersurface 50 to provide for even loading of the vessel 10. Thereciprocating means 30 is then actuated from a remote source to raisethe valve plug 22 to the solid line position shown in FIGURE 1 whereinthe angular valve seat of the head plate 18 and the angular surface 24of the valve plug 22 cooperate with the gasket means 26 to provide asealing relationship to the neck portion of the vessel 10. Pressure fromwithin the vessel acting upwardly against the conical under surface 52of the valve plug 22 increases the seal between these elements. (Whenrefilling the digester, the valve plug 22 is again lowered.) Disassemblyof the various parts for repair or maintenance is readily accomplishedby releasing the. bolt means 80 and 98 to remove the sections 78 and 92,respectively, of the solid material feed hopper 68 and the liquidmaterial feed conduit 88, the head plate 18 and its associatedstationary funnel hopper 64 being readily removed by' loosening the nutmeans 48 on the T-shaped bolt means 44 and sliding the same free of theslot means 38 and 46.

It will now be seen that there is herein provided an improved cappingvalve means for use in association with a digester or other similarpressure vessel, which satisfies all the objects of the instantinvention, and others, including many advantages of great practicalutility and commercial importance,

Since many embodiments may be made of the instant inventive concept, andsince many modifications may be made of the embodiments hereinbeforeshown and described, it is to be understood that all matter herein is tobe interpreted merely as illustrative, and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

In combination with a vessel having an open neck portion, a valve meanscomprising a head plate secured over said neck portion, said head platehaving portions defining an angular valve seat disposed toward theinterior of said vessel, a valve plug having portions defining anangular surface cooperating with said valve seat to seal said neckportion, reciprocating means operatively connected to said valve plug toselectively move the same interiorly of said vessel whereby said neckportion is opened for feeding material into said vessel, saidreciprocating means including a stem member secured to said valve plugand extending away from said vessel and a driving means operativelysecured to said stem member, said combination further including astationary solid material feed means having an open lower end alignedwith said neck portion, said stem member passing substantially centrallythrough said lower end of said solid material feed means, portions ofsaid solid material feed means defining a guide member receiving saidstem member, and a stationary liquid material feed means having an openlower end aligned with said neck portion, said stern member passingsubstantially centrally through said lower end of said liquid materialfeed means, portions of said liquid material feed means defining anadditional guide member receiving said stem member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 589,932 9/1897 Ayres 137583 X1,694,139 12/1928 Olsson 162246 X 1,716,059 6/1929 Huntemuller 162246 X2,156,643 5/1939 Shipman 162246 2,925,334 2/1960 Henze et al 251-332 XFOREIGN PATENTS 150,782 9/ 1920 Great Britain.

WILLIAM F. ODEA, Primary Examiner.

D. H. LAMBERT, Assistant Examiner.

